Meanings
plural Oklahoma drills · alternative Oklahoma Drill
- American footballIn gridiron football, a practice technique wherein two players run at each other within a narrow corridor with the aim of either tackling the opponent, driving them out of bounds, or scoring a touchdown.
The 'Oklahoma Drill' used to be one of the highlights of the Steelers' training camp.
1992, Jim O'Brien, Whatever It Takes: The Continuing Saga of the Pittsburgh Steelers II, James O'Brien-Publishing, →ISBN, page 322 more examples
Offensively, Dan Sullivan and Bob Vogel were strong blockers in the Oklahoma Drill and Mike Curtis and Ted Hendricks savage as defensive operators.
1972 July 25, “Colts' Bubba holds firm in contact squabble”, in The Baltimore Sun, page 26To make it work, Wilkinson needed three interior down linemen who could do the work of four (or more) by exploding off the snap, reading the ball carrier and then, in tight quarters, shedding blocks to make tackles. In other words, he needed players who would excel at the Oklahoma drill.
2015 August 19, David Fleming, “Is the Oklahoma drill a rite of passage or everything to fear about football?”, in ESPN
Origin
Named after the Oklahoma Sooners football team by coach Bud Wilkinson, creator of the technique.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Oklahoma drill. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Oklahoma%20drill
“Oklahoma drill.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Oklahoma%20drill. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Oklahoma drill,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Oklahoma%20drill.
Source: Oklahoma drill on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.